Liang Jian: Commander, save some for me

"There shouldn't be any problem, right?! What if they don't fall for it?! Or perhaps they chose to retreat after learning that the two divisions had arrived?!" Seishiro Itaga frowned as he spoke.

He felt that the Northeast Army might not fall for the trap, and in that case, all their preparations would be in vain.

"They would never allow anyone to evacuate. Even if the people in the city were evacuated, they would stay outside the city and keep a close eye on the situation in Taiyuan," Yamamoto Ichiki said confidently.

He didn't believe that the Northeast Army would just leave like that; they would definitely keep an eye on Taiyuan to avoid being unaware of any developments.

"Your previous plan was actually quite good, but you forgot that the Northeast Army was not so simple. That's why the 16th Division was discovered by the enemy, and thus, the enemy turned the tables on Commander Nakajima." Yamamoto Ichiki then used the 6th Division as an example.

“You’re right.” Seishiro Itagaki nodded. He had been a bit anxious at the time. If the Sixth Division had set off two days later, perhaps the outcome wouldn’t have been so tragic, and Nakajima Kesago wouldn’t have died because of it.

"Division Commander, don't forget, even if they don't fall for it, we can still attack the Eighth Route Army and that Northeast Army. Although I'm not entirely confident, I'm quite confident in defeating the Eighth Route Army."
"Then we'll show you just how formidable the Special Attack Corps is," Yamamoto Ichiki said slowly.

It would be best if the Northeast Army fell for the trap, but if the enemy didn't, they could settle for fighting the Eighth Route Army instead.

"Yamamoto-kun, it's up to you guys then." Seishiro Itagaki could only place his hopes on Ichiki Yamamoto.

After all, only Yamamoto's special attack force could contend with that Northeast Army.

"Besides, if this plan doesn't work out, we still have a contingency plan, right? They have a very good relationship with the Eighth Route Army. I don't believe that he wouldn't choose to help if he knew that the Eighth Route Army was in danger!"

"That would be the perfect opportunity to turn the tables on them and launch a pincer attack on their reinforcements, an eye for an eye!" Yamamoto Ichiki said slowly.

According to the combat reports he studied, the Northeast Army's favorite tactic was to besiege a point and then attack reinforcements. The key was that their troops really couldn't do anything about that Northeast Army.

Once reinforcements are sent, several places will be lost, maximizing the losses. Therefore, when it is known that the enemy is besieging a point to intercept reinforcements, the best approach is to ignore the besieged area. Only in this way can losses be minimized in time, and the casualties cannot be allowed to increase further.

"Yes!" Seishiro Itagaki nodded.

"Oh, and make sure you prepare some of those poison gas bombs for me too. If I feel like I can't beat them, I can use them!" Yamamoto Ichiki said.

Although he didn't think Yamamoto's special attack force was weaker than that Northeast Army, he still had to be careful. He did this for safety reasons, mainly to prevent anything from happening to the commander of the Sixth Division.

He was the one who proposed this plan, after all. If the commander of the Sixth Division were to die because of it, his own fate would probably be nothing more than seppuku. Even the commander-in-chief probably couldn't protect him.

Of course, if he could annihilate that Northeast Army, his fate would be better; otherwise, he would suffer.

A first-class division commander is very valuable. Not only was he used as bait, but things went wrong, and he failed to annihilate the Northeast Army. The loss was too great.

"Okay, I'll have someone send it over to you in a bit. I'll also get you some gas masks while I'm at it." Seishiro Itagaki nodded. With the poison gas bombs, even if Yamamoto's special attack force was no match for them, they should be able to protect Hisao Tani and prevent him from getting hurt.

The officers then gathered again to continue discussing and refining the plan.

"Division Commander, if I really end up fighting that Northeast Army, remember to mobilize the air force for bombing and inflict as many losses on the enemy as possible," Yamamoto Ichiki continued.

Having poison gas bombs is not enough to ensure safety; at least air power is needed to strike the enemy, so that the enemy suffers heavy losses while their casualties are reduced.

“Of course!” said Seishiro Itaga. Their airport now has more than a hundred planes, which will definitely come in handy for this operation, not to mention that it is for bombing that Northeast Army.

That makes it even more necessary. It's just that warships can't get here, otherwise he would have wanted to mobilize the army, navy, and air force together to deal with this Northeast Army.

.........

Two days later, Li Jin had a telegraph operator send a telegram to Chu Yunfei, informing him that he could set off, and the destination was a place Li Jin had specifically chosen.

In the floating city, inside the military camp.

Upon receiving the telegram, Chu Yunfei immediately took it to Commander Zhang's residence.

"Commander, Mu Jin has sent a telegram. He says we can set off now." Chu Yunfei handed the telegram to Commander Zhang.

"I didn't expect that Mu Jin would send us out so soon after I arrived in Fucheng, which is only two days ago." Commander Zhang took the telegram and read it.

"Xuanming Mountain, this location seems to be not far from the Zhengtai Railway," Commander Zhang said after glancing at the telegram.

"Yes, according to the Eighth Route Army's plan, they will carry out large-scale destruction of the Zhengtai Railway. Does Mu Jin want us to destroy the railway as well?!" Chu Yunfei had already thought this on the way here.

"It should be right. However, the Zhengtai Railway is also an important transportation line for the Japanese. It probably won't be so easy to destroy." Commander Zhang frowned. Although he didn't know much about this railway, he knew that the Japanese had always used it to transport soldiers and ore.

The amount of manpower and ore involved shows how much the Japanese valued this railway; they certainly wouldn't let it be easily destroyed.

"Of course. If it were that easy to destroy the railway, the Eighth Route Army wouldn't have made such a big commotion."

"To be honest, it seems we don't know the exact timeframe the Eighth Route Army mentioned for their operation," Chu Yunfei said. They had a general understanding of the Eighth Route Army's plans, but they hadn't been given the specific timing of their operation.

"Mu Jin should know that he's telling us to set off now. By the time we arrive, it will most likely be close to the time when the Eighth Route Army is about to launch its operation." Commander Zhang could understand why they hadn't mentioned a specific time for the operation; it was entirely because they were worried about the information leaking out.

"Commander, there's no time to lose, let's set off now," Chu Yunfei said.

"What's the rush? How do you plan to get there?!" Commander Zhang called out to the impatient Chu Yunfei and asked.

"Of course we'll travel at night. During the day, the Japanese planes will be spying on us, and it wouldn't be good if they found out our whereabouts," Chu Yunfei replied. He wasn't stupid.

Now, so much time has passed since Mu Jin bombed the Japanese airfield. The Japanese have long since deployed aircraft to the airfield, and subsequent operations will likely face heavy bombing by Japanese planes.

"Then why are you in such a hurry? It's still early before dark," Commander Zhang said irritably. It's only two in the afternoon. What if there are Japanese spies in the city if we go out now!
If their whereabouts are exposed, wouldn't that also expose Mu Jin and the others?

"Um... I'll go check the supplies again to avoid any shortages," Chu Yunfei said.

"Yes, first send a telegram to the commander, telling him that we're departing tonight." Commander Zhang nodded and gave the order.

I still need to inform the commander about the departure. "Understood!" Chu Yunfei then turned and left.

Commander Zhang took out a pack of cigarettes, lit one, and then began to look at the map.

"Xuanming Mountain, is this place very close to Mu Jin's base?! If so, where would they be hiding?!" Commander Zhang frowned and began to study the possibility of where Mu Jin's base might be located.

However, after studying for more than ten minutes, Commander Zhang still couldn't figure it out. Mu Jin and his group were still too mysterious and too good at hiding. Their location might be very far away from Xuanming Mountain.

"Forget it, forget it, let's not worry about it anymore." Commander Zhang shook his head helplessly. Since they couldn't find him, they wouldn't look for him anymore. Anyway, even if they found him, they couldn't do anything to Mu Jin.

Time quickly passed and it was already 10 p.m.

Chu Yunfei led the 358th Regiment away from Fucheng and began heading towards Xuanming Mountain.

They didn't stop until 8 a.m. the next morning, and hid in the mountains to rest, so as to avoid being discovered by the Japanese reconnaissance planes.

"Commander, Mu Jin asked us to go to Xuanming Mountain. Have they arrived yet, or are they on their way?" Fang Ligong asked Chu Yunfei.

"They're on their way; they'll probably arrive by the time we get there," Chu Yunfei replied, having already sent a telegram to Mu Jin to inquire.

"Oh." Fang Ligong nodded, then continued, "Commander, now that we've set off, shouldn't you tell us about Mu Jin's battle plan?"

"Don't worry, you'll know when we get there," Chu Yunfei replied, unaware of Mu Jin's battle plan.

"Commander, you... never mind, we'll ask you later." Fang Ligong shook his head. He was basically certain that the commander didn't know about Mu Jin's action plan.

"Brother Ligong, to tell you the truth, I really don't know what the plan is." Chu Yunfei said helplessly.

"Commander, I told you Mu Jin didn't take us seriously. He didn't even tell us the battle plan," Fang Ligong said immediately upon hearing this.

"It's not Mu Jin's fault. He wanted to tell you, but I was worried that if I told you, someone might accidentally let it slip and the Japanese would find out. Then the whole plan would fall through," Chu Yunfei quickly explained. It wasn't that he didn't want to hear, but he was worried that something unexpected might happen.

"Commander, what you said doesn't seem to make any mistake." Fang Ligong originally wanted to say that it was impossible for anyone to let something slip, but then he thought about it again and realized that it was indeed possible for someone to let something slip.

"Brother Ligong, we'll need to cooperate in this operation. Kill as many Japanese devils as we can," Chu Yunfei said with a smile.

"Don't worry about that," Fang Ligong replied. He and Chu Yunfei had worked together for a long time. Although they had different stances, they were on the same side when it came to fighting the Japanese.

Since we're on the same side, there's nothing more to say.

.........

386th Brigade, Conference Room.

The commander hurried in. He had gone to headquarters the day before yesterday to discuss the specific timing of the operation, and now it had finally been decided.

"Commander, what's the situation? Has it been decided?!" The political commissar immediately stood up upon seeing this.

"Yes, it's decided. Unit 20 will be moving out. Go to the communications room immediately and send a telegram to Li Jin to tell him the time of the operation." The commander nodded and said.

Actually, Li Jin's actions are not in a hurry to compare with theirs. After all, Li Jin has already formulated an action plan, and it is up to Li Jin to decide how to fight. As long as it does not affect the overall situation, that's fine.

"Okay, by the way, sir, shouldn't Li Yunlong and the others be about to set off?!" The political commissar stopped and asked as he was about to leave.

The specific time for the operation has been set, so it should be about time for the New First Regiment and the Independent Regiment to set off.

"We can tell them the specific time of the main force's operation, but their operation time still depends on Li Jin," the commander said slowly.

"Understood." The political commissar then turned and left.

"The time for this operation is really getting closer and closer," the commander sighed. This plan has been talked about for so long, and it's finally time to take action.

The main force has made so many preparations, just waiting for that day to take action.

.........

The headquarters of the 772nd Regiment.

Li Yunlong and Zhao Gang wandered around the village. The people here were living quite well, and the currency was the Border Region Ticket, which was only valid in their territory.

The Japanese don't recognize border region tickets; they only recognize gold and silver dollars.

"Commander Cheng has managed this regimental headquarters quite well," Zhao Gang said as they walked. The fact that the people were so welcoming to them showed how much they liked the Eighth Route Army. Even though they had temporarily changed garrisons, the people didn't seem to mind.

"Don't let Cheng the Blind's arrival fool you; he's got some skills." Li Yunlong surprisingly praised Cheng the Blind. Seeing the people of the regiment welcoming them made him feel good, so what was wrong with praising Cheng the Blind? He wasn't praising him to his face anyway.

"Then why do you argue with Commander Cheng every time you meet?" Zhao Gang laughed.

“It’s normal for good friends to argue. Speaking of which, this operation will probably involve the 28th Regiment. The commander of the 28th Regiment, Ding Wei, is also an old comrade-in-arms of mine.” Li Yunlong couldn’t help but think of Ding Wei and said.

"Commander Ding's 28th Regiment fought off many Japanese soldiers and even made it into the Yan'an newspaper. He was indeed formidable," Zhao Gang said. He knew a bit about the 28th Regiment; after all, few could make it into the Yan'an newspaper.

"Of course, but this guy isn't a good person either. He often sneaks off to drink without inviting anyone." Li Yunlong changed the subject and started talking badly about Ding Wei.

Zhao Gang was both amused and exasperated after hearing this. If anyone was going to secretly drink without inviting others, Li Yunlong was the original one, able to come up with all sorts of excuses.

(End of this chapter)